Snowflakes: 2017 UM game broadcasts
We had games carried on ABC/ESPN, BTN, and FOX, and I feel like we saw more announcers this year than in the past. I am curious to know which announcers and broadcasts you enjoyed or disliked, and why?
Starting with the broadcasts, I thought FOX really improved its production from the start of the year. Earlier in the season (Florida?) I remember being bewildered at how FOX, who has so much NFL experience, could manage to botch basics like camera angles and replays, etc.
That said, I think the visual quality of FOX's production improved throughout the year. With respect to announcers, I tend to prefer the ABC/ESPN crews because they have a better feel for "tradition," and how to speak to the fan base, IMO.
For example, a guy like Herbstreet at least seems to understand our angst and I can relate to him better, even if he's a tool sometimes. Obviously this is highly subjective. But. at one point in the Minnesota game, Tim Brando (I think?) from FOX said "touchdown MEEEECHIGAN" and I thought to myself "WTF, who talks like that?" That said, I did like Dave Wannstedt on FOX and think that a guy with his coaching experience could bring interesting insights.
Lastly, I kind of liked that FOX was experimenting with little segments "brought to us by sponsors." I've been saying for a long time that TV production would be greatly improved by showing more play analysis or "behind the scenes" looks, while finding a way to add stealth advertisements. My reasoning is that soccer manages to generate plenty of revenue whithout ever cutting to commericals. The football equivalent would be to have FedEx or Coke sponsor a number of play breakdowns, or even silly segments about the school's campus, shots from band practice, clips from football practice, short player profiles, etc. This could be stepped up even further by using the money currently spent on producing advertisements to pay a good analyst (e.g. Wannstedt, or anyone else that you like) to spend time breaking down strategy.
FOX tried to do that in the Wisconsin game (e.g. Target sponsoring a little roundtable during a commercial break), but their segments felt a little bit cheesy still. Nonetheless I liked that they experiements with it and sort of hope that they continue working on improving that approach. It would be great to (finally) move away from the format of four to five consecutive 30 second ads. On the bright side, though, I think the viagra ads are effectively a thing of the past. Those used to be the worst when watching football w family.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
Yeah, Fox absolutely botched that one (due to the baseball game I think). That was a huge minus, not sure how I forgot that
November 28th, 2017 at 1:00 PM ^
I'm hoping Delaney and the Big Ten have some conversations with Fox about baseball games running into football games. I'm guessing Michigan games, as well as some other Big Ten schools, pull better ratings for their football games then Fox gets for those baseball games.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
I don't get the whole "Herbsteit is ok and objective" vibe. Was I the only person who heard him try to revive the annual "Harbaugh to the NFL" rumor on Gameday a couple weeks ago? He's a Buckeye. If you're cool with that, fine. I don't want to hear him. So I don't.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
I honestly believe they need to cut him loose from Gameday and let him announce the game only. I've tired of his rumormongering.
I used to like Herbstreit more, but then I started watching Joel Klatt. Klatt >>> Herbstreit
I think Gus/Klatt is the best announcer duo since ABC had Keith Jackson/Bob Griese and Brent Musberger/Dick Vermeil at the same time.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^
Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt are hands down the best.
With Gus you know he's secretly pulling for the Wolverines since he's a Michigan fan unlike Kirk Herbstreit.
Kirk and Fowler are second best followed by Brian Griese and whoever is his co-host.
November 28th, 2017 at 10:34 PM ^
Here's another vote for Johnson and Klatt. Klatt knows his stuff and is even handed in his praise and criticism. I especially like that he's not afraid to point out when the refs totally miss or blow a call. Most of the other commentators seem afraid to ever do that and it gets tiresome to hear them try to justify obvious mistakes by the refs.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^
To Hell with Herbstreit. The only buckeye I enjoy listening to is Spielman. He has a great sense for the game, but even he lets his buckeye bias shine through.
November 28th, 2017 at 4:38 PM ^
Among Buckeye alums, would much rather have Chris Spielman doing color than Herb St, but alas, he's doing NFL now. The rest of them suck, starting with Galloway.
November 28th, 2017 at 4:45 PM ^
You lost me at Wanstadt. I have no idea how this guy has a job doing anything.
November 29th, 2017 at 12:07 AM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
Is it just me or does Fox HD not look like other HD channels?
November 28th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
how we had Levy/Griese like every week last year and never had them at all this year.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
kind of get the feeling that this is actually Brian Griese. Yes?
November 28th, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
Brian, stop being so uncomplimentary of Michigan in an effort to prove you're not a slappy and just comment on the damn game! If Michigan does something well, mention it. If they screw up, mention it. But don't downplay Michigan during the broadcast because you're afraid someone is going to accuse you of being a homer!
November 28th, 2017 at 1:34 PM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 4:42 PM ^
Exactly what the real Griese would want us to believe.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
Best: Klatt Worst: Brando
ABC and FOX are both okay for me as long as it's their best teams. Gus Johnson can get a bit annoying with being over the top but knowing he is a Michigan guy mitigates it for me. I still like him in spite of the dramatics on a 1st and 10 three yard run.
November 28th, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^
calling a Michigan game, I hope I am deaf. If I hear about the VIPER position one more time...
November 28th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
that game dragged on and actually took away our momentum
November 28th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
A college football game should not take 4 hours. I can honestly say I did not watch even 50% of any game this year based on commercials. I would really like to know if it impacts gameplay. Getting players enough time to rest is good. Ruining momentum to try and sell another Honda is pitiful. A noon game should be done by 3:15.
November 28th, 2017 at 3:52 PM ^
Fewer commercial breaks. A lot fewer. The OP just touched on it but European futbol is HUGE business. Every bit as big as football here. And they make the revenues work with 45 minutes (plus stoppage :) without commercial break. I recommend:
1. A permanent band on top or bottom of the screen which advertisers purchase. Keep it small since it will be exclusive. Say GM only for 5 minutes, Budweiser only for 5 minutes, etc. Additionally, as opposed to soccer there are lots of natural 15 second stoppages in football. Huddles, etc. You could animate the ad bands during this time or even expand them on the screen. No audio however. The announcers need to announce.
2. One two minute commercial break per quarter. OK...two of you twist my arm.
3. Three minute commercial break between quarters.
Fewer ad minutes means greater impact per minute which means more $$ per minute.
November 29th, 2017 at 12:35 AM ^
This is the ideal format. I don't know why they can't come even close to doing this.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
That is every damn game. Too many commercials. It feels like network producers get excited when a player gets hurt so they can squeeze another commercial in.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^
The amount of commercial breaks was absolutely brutal. It's a common thing when you're in the stadium to complain about the amount of breaks but The Game had a ridiculous amount.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman were ass.
Brock Huard is worse.
ABC/ESPN's production has gone way downhill since their big talent purge a few years ago when they unveiled that monstrous SC set.
Fox's production wasn't a whole lot better, but their camera angles are a lot better. Their directors suck at cutting between cameras, though.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^
Pure ass.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^
November 28th, 2017 at 4:52 PM ^
But their replay guys in the truck were amazing. They would always get multiple angles and do a great job speeding up and slowing down big plays.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^
I noticed it on Thanksgiving also. I hope it sticks and leads to less TV timeouts.
I have a request for BTN/ESPN. I wish they would leverage the BTN+ channels and ESPN3 to broadcast the halftime performances commercial free or with the "Brought to us..." window in between performances.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
I really enjoy Gus Johnson...
November 28th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
would be a lot better if he actually watched the games. For example, I think everybody in the stands and all the players knew that there was a false start on one of JT's runs to the endzone, except for Gus who had an aneurysm for JT. He just gets overly excited about non-events. Like, passes that are nowhere near the receiver. Yeah, they threw deep. Big deal. If the ball has no chance of being caught, why is he getting so excited? I think he must have a producer in his ear telling him stuff, but he is yelling so loud that he can't hear them.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^
Him being a self proclaimed Michigan Man, I thought he was trying to get OSU fans excited just to say "Whoops..."
November 28th, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
because of the OSU game. He is an excitable type of play caller and OSU had some plays there in the second half, so that memory brings a negative reaction. Maybe. I don't know. We don't have to agree on Gus, but I just find him entertaining to listen to.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:00 PM ^
I'm just pointing out what I don't like about him that prevents him from being one of the top guys for me.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
double post
November 28th, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^
...for football, not so much. His "excitability" quotient is great for the sudden big plays a basketball game can provide, but the often slow burn of football doesn't seem to suit him. He fixates on certain narratives too long, at the expense of the live action, and doesn't seem to have a feel for what's important. A defender will make an outstanding play to get to the QB and he won't stop talking about how good the O-line was last week to make note of the fact that the players he's currently praising just got their lunch handed to them.
I was excited to see him call B1G football. But after seeing him this year, I'm not impressed. Maybe he'll get better.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^
Me too for reasons I'm not sure of.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
was an homage to Bob Ufer. I guess "tradition" means different things to different people. And yes, I'm old.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
Let's not kid ourselves. It may have been an homage to Ufer, but Brando hates Michigan after so many fans ripped him a new asshole when he was talking shit about Harbaugh/depth chart.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
Yeah, I figured as much, but it rang empty to me. It seemed like he was just trying to resonate with the Michigan fanbase but it wasn't real genuine. Like he heard it somewhere sometime before and decided to copy it just to be cool
November 28th, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^
The UM/Minny broadcast wasn't really well done, but it was basically a "home" broadcast with as much Ufer, and Michigan Man rhetoric they were slingin. So, quality not good but I liked it.
November 28th, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
I think Brando was trying to make nice after all his ridiculous, absolutely tone-deaf assertion that he'd feel more compassion for the poor conditions at Purdue if Harbaugh provided a depth chart.
As far as I'm concerned he's on the "Get Fucked" list for life.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
I thought the Fox broadcast this past Saturday was pretty awful.
- Way too zoomed in on certain plays
- showed the wrong replay angles a few times (announcer would be talking about one thing and they would show something unrelated on the other side of the field)
- busy showing a replay and completely missed the play where O'Korn stumbled (got his foot stepped on?) out of the snap and we lost a down
- followed JT Barrett around on the sideline for a good minute while the crowd started cheering and Kinnell was down, I assume this is when he got up.. would've been nice to see.
Oh and worst of all, the in game commercials were so obnoxious. Split screen for a 5-10sec Discover commercial, then barely get back in time for the snap? Made me want to cancel my Discover Card right then and there.
Thought Johnson and Klatt did a pretty good job though. More just an issue with whoever was directing the broadcast
November 28th, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
so the only time I really remember thinking about the announcers was during the Minnesota game because the two guys in the booth were embarassingly unprepared
November 28th, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
I listened to the feed on WCBN Sports for most of the season (turned down the TV sound) and wes very impressed. The banter is much better than either the TV talking heads and I found it superior to listening to Brandy. Reminded me of listening to Hemmingway on WUOM back in the day to a degree since it's non-comercial radio with no breaks at all. Great stuff. Synced up reasonably well to the TV broadcasts for the most part as well.
November 28th, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
Is so bad. Not only does he miss basic yards gained per play, but at least half his attempts at anticipating what a call will be when a flag is thrown are off as well. Doesn't seem to do his homework and is clearly being carried by Klatt.